“Gloves Off” Finally Lets the Season Hit Back

Score: 9/10

“Gloves Off” feels like the episode Daredevil: Born Again has been building toward all season. Written by Chantelle M. Wells and directed by Solvan “Slick” Naim, Episode 4 shifts the show out of setup mode and into something far more dangerous, personal, and physical. It brings Bullseye roaring back into the center of the story, pushes Fisk closer to the edge, and gives Matt one of those classic impossible moral situations that make Daredevil work when it is at its best.

The smartest thing this episode does is refuse to turn Bullseye into a simple monster. He is absolutely terrifying here, but he is not flat. The opening diner sequence makes that clear immediately. The episode starts with routine and calm, then snaps into chaos as Dex uses the Anti-Vigilante Task Force’s own paranoia against them and wipes them out with casual precision. What makes the scene work is not just the choreography, though that is outstanding. It is the way Bullseye genuinely seems to believe he is doing something righteous. Wilson Bethel even described the character this season as someone who thinks he is “one of the good guys,” and that warped self-justification is exactly what makes him so compelling. He is not just violent. He is convinced he has found purpose.

That complexity carries into the Matt and Bullseye confrontation, which is one of the best dramatic scenes the series has delivered since coming back. Their fight is brutal, but it is also ideological. Bullseye sees killing Fisk as a correction, almost like balancing the books. Matt sees the same act as a catastrophe that would turn Fisk into a martyr and hand the city over to even darker forces. That is the kind of conflict this show needs more of. Not hero versus villain in a generic sense, but two broken men arguing over what justice even looks like in a city that has stopped deserving clean answers. The episode understands that Matt’s war is not just against Fisk. It is against the temptation to believe that one act of violence can fix everything.

Bullseye also benefits from action that actually says something about who he is. The diner scene is all murderous control, while the apartment fight with Matt feels more intimate and jagged. Even the preview coverage before release highlighted Bullseye using a CD as a weapon, which tells you everything about how this version of the character operates. Anything near him becomes lethal. Bethel said the diner fight was shot in one day with around 80 setups, and you can feel that planning on screen. The action is chaotic in the right way, but never sloppy. It has personality. It has rhythm. It has that old Daredevil sense that pain matters and space matters and every object in the room can become part of the violence.

If Bullseye is the episode’s sharpest weapon, Fisk is its slow-burning threat. What makes Fisk so effective here is that he is unraveling without losing control completely. That is always when Vincent D’Onofrio is most dangerous in this role. Fisk is dealing with pressure from every direction, from criminal partners questioning him to public optics to the people around him trying to believe he can still be managed. Vanessa’s conversation with the governor reinforces the illusion that Fisk can be contained, while the boxing event exists almost like a public performance of power. Then the episode rips that illusion apart. By the end, Fisk is not just angry. He is destabilized in a way that feels much bigger than one cliffhanger. D’Onofrio himself said what happens to Vanessa makes Fisk “more of a loose cannon than he has ever been before,” and that tracks perfectly with where this episode leaves him.

The Fogwell’s Gym climax is where the episode fully cashes in. Fisk taking the ring is already a loaded image, because it turns his physicality into spectacle. He is not hiding what he is anymore. Then Bullseye arrives and the whole thing turns into panic, vengeance, and collateral damage. Vanessa shooting Bullseye, Fisk knocking the glass projectile away with his belt, and the shard striking Vanessa is the kind of tragic chain reaction that Daredevil thrives on. Nobody wins. Everyone’s worst instincts collide at once. It is messy in a way that feels earned, not random. And the image of Fisk holding onto power while the person who humanizes him most lies bleeding is the kind of ending that promises consequences instead of just noise.

What I also liked is how much this episode understands that character and action cannot be separated. Matt and Karen working to build a real case against Fisk gives the episode a backbone, not just a series of cool set pieces. The testimony from Soledad, the First Mate’s appearance, the effort to get evidence into the right hands, all of that matters because it reminds us this fight is bigger than one masked man. The resistance element makes the city feel alive. It gives Matt something larger to protect. It also makes Fisk’s hold on New York feel systemic instead of theatrical.

My main issue is Angela. I understand what the episode is trying to do by tying her to legacy, responsibility, and the White Tiger symbol. On paper, it makes sense. In execution, though, Matt trusting her with something this dangerous feels like a stretch. She still reads too young for the level of risk the story is placing on her shoulders, and that kept pulling me out of the episode a bit. Instead of feeling inspired by her involvement, I mostly felt nervous that the show was forcing a major responsibility onto a character who has not quite earned that level of operational trust yet. It does not ruin the episode, but it is the one part that felt more convenient than convincing.

Still, this is the strongest episode of the season so far because it finally makes the show feel dangerous again. Bullseye is no longer just a chaos button waiting offscreen. He is a fully realized force in the story. Fisk is becoming more unstable in ways that should make the back half of the season much stronger. Matt is trapped in exactly the kind of moral and physical war that this character needs. And most importantly, the action is no longer just there to entertain. It reveals character, escalates theme, and leaves damage behind. “Gloves Off” does not just give Born Again a jolt. It gives it clarity.